Gamers have been waiting years for Nintendo to finally release its Wii successor, and Game Informer has heard from multiple sources that the company will unveil it at E3 this summer if not sooner.

We have confirmed with multiple sources that this new home system is capable of running games at HD resolutions. There are conflicting reports, however, as to whether its graphics will be comparable to those on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 – meaning it could surpass or fall short of those systems. Either way it will offer competitive specifications. Moving to HD should greatly help Nintendo and its new console in getting more multi-platform triple-A titles like Portal 2 or Mortal Kombat. This, in turn, will strengthen Nintendo's historically poor relationship with third-party publishers/developers.

In fact, Nintendo is already showing publishers the system in an effort to get them interested and allow them plenty of time to start developing titles in anticipation of the system's reported late 2012 launch. This advance support marks a change from when the Wii launched. At that time, several Western publishers were outright surprised by the announcement, and it affected the software support for the platform.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata himself acknowledged that it needs to do a better job with its publishing partners at a 3DS press conference in the fall of 2010. "We need to decrease the concern that only Nintendo software can sell well on Nintendo platforms and third-party software cannot sell in the same volume. We feel a need to have closer ties with our third-party developers from the beginning."

"Nintendo is doing this one right," said an anonymous source. "[It's] not a gimmick like the Wii." What else, beyond graphics, this may infer about the system is unknown. What kind of controls the system will support (we imagine a need for both classic analog configurations and motion controllers) or what level of software and infrastructure Nintendo will provide for online gaming is also unknown. However, it's a positive sign that the system might be more than just an HD Wii.

We've heard about an HD Wii for some time now, and the time is perfect – almost necessary – for Nintendo to jump start itself with this new system. The company has been feeling the bite since Wii sales have declined from previous years, and this week's news that Nintendo could be dropping the price of the Wii on May 15 could be a precursor to this announcement and an attempt to move as many Wii units as possible out of the retail channel before the new system hits.

We do not have confirmation if this new system will be backward compatible with the Wii or if it will even carry the Wii branding as has often been rumored. It is our understanding that Nintendo is trying to embrace the western gamer and will likely launch a new brand with this console. Around the office we have dubbed the system Nintendo HD. However, this information at this point is conjecture.

We contacted a Nintendo representative regarding this information, and while they wouldn't comment on it or the company's E3 plans, they did sign off with a intriguing "stay tuned."

Either way, it should be an exciting E3 for Nintendo and gamers alike.

They need something new but Nintendos consoles have been going down hill for me starting with the N64 so im not expecting much.Also read yesterday the wii was getting a price drop so this could be true but then they have been saying this for 2 years now.

Exactly what I have wanted for ages now. Never understood all the hate for the Gamecube I love the little lunchbox.

I'm just overall fed up with motion controls and want to play Nintendo games. I'm really excited for Skyward Sword but I hope they do what they did with Twilight Princess and port it to the next console without motion. I think the motion controls are the reason I stopped playing Okami.

Anyway new Nintendo console without motion and all the classic francise's. Sign me up.

when was the last time nintendo got the jump with the first console out? Sony and MS have stated stuff about a 10 year run for the current hardware. Then again Wii is kind of an entire different ball game than PS and Xbox.

Riku Rose wrote:Exactly what I have wanted for ages now. Never understood all the hate for the Gamecube I love the little lunchbox.

I'm just overall fed up with motion controls and want to play Nintendo games. I'm really excited for Skyward Sword but I hope they do what they did with Twilight Princess and port it to the next console without motion. I think the motion controls are the reason I stopped playing Okami.

Anyway new Nintendo console without motion and all the classic francise's. Sign me up.

To be honest i think N are the more likely to try a console without a normal controller.

To quote the great one......... FIIIINALLLY!!!I might actually give Nintendo a second look next year, I loved the N64 easily Nintendo's best console, had soooo many games that you wouldn't even imagine seeing on the Wii now. A close second is the SNES.

Maybe they'll finally make a 3D Pokemon RPG that will make them millions upon millions, I don't even follow Pokemon in the slightest but I've wanted a 3D Pokemon RPG since Red came out waaaay back when, could finally happen on this console.

It's a wait and see deal, it could go both ways easyly.It all depends on the 'philosophy' being it.Does Nintendo want to move out from it's current, confortable position on the family market?Even if it does, I, for one, don't know what to expect from Nintendo after the Wii.I was never a Nintendo fan (or hater), it's just that their series don't appeal to me.The SNES was a pretty good console, even if I was/am a Genesis man myself. If that Nintendo were to return, with the fundings the commercial success of the Wii grants, it could be interesting.

HUMM...On another note.I am reading, from a couple credible sources like Kotaku, that it will be more powerfull than the Ps3.Which is realistic enough having in mind how GPUs have evolve in the last five years, and how you can buy GPUs with almost five times the raw specs of the current gen for pretty cheap.

That worries me a bit, actually.If it were to be more powerfull than the Playstation 3 and the 360... If it showed, and if the sales took of...It could mean a new generation of consoles would be rushed...And, far as I am concerned, we don't need to have that jump. Really, it could hurt seriously the medium, from where I am standing. Quality-wize and even thinking about the financial stability of the market as a whole... It could be bad or even really bad.

Or this console, ending up not as a true new gen or an old gen machine plus if it were to face itself with the lack of proper 3rd party support... It could become the Saturn or rather the Gamecube x10.

Its nintendo, they may make a handheld that fails but a console? I don't think it'll happen. Also the industry is looking at new consoles anyway its 5-6 year cycle and the wii and ps3 came out in 2006, by 2012 we're lookin at 6 years, to be honest its no biggie to me. These console kinda need to die anyway since the ps3 and 360 are really holding back the medium quality wise. Crysis 2, as good of a game as it is would have been waaaaaay better if it was made for high end pcs like planned as opposed to a hybrid pc/console game that couldn't really satisfy pc owners and was too complicated for console owners. Consoles are holding pc games down.

New details have surfaced from yesterday's reports that Nintendo is set to unveil its newest console, codenamed "Project Cafe."

According to our sources, the new Nintendo controller will feature dual analog sticks in addition to standard d-pad and trigger buttons. It'll mirror a Gamecube controller in general function but not in specific form.

French website 01.net has published additional details (via Develop), that say the touch capable screen on the controller is 6 inches in size, but we were unable to confirm the accuracy of the report. Additional details about the console's hardware specs could also not be confirmed.

Players will actually be able to stream game content to the controller screen from the console. It's unclear at this time what type of content it will be, whether it's full games you can take with you on the go, mini-games or applications.

At E3 in June, our sources also said Nintendo will show first and third party titles at the event, but it's unsure if they'll be playable or only in video form.

Update: Sources now confirm to IGN the new Nintendo controller allows players to stream entire games to the device from the console, saying it's like a miniature television. The screen size on the controller is also confirmed to be six inches in size.

I'm willing to buy all this since IGN was 100% right about the NGP. Sounds call to me but I can't see many times when I will use the smaller screen. I'd rather wait an hour or two if someone is watching the TV so I can play it on a big screen.

I can't wait to see the final results at E3 2011. This is going to be a very exciting E3 with games like NG3, Resident Evil 6, DMC reboot, maybe a new console Metal Gear Solid and now Wii 2. Imagine Nintendo showing mario galaxy 3 in HD and a brand new Zelda HD. Woo

"Shenmue II reveals the true scope that the series encompasses and how this story is still just beginning. If it continues to be composed of ambitious, engrossing and entertaining titles like Shenmue II, Yu Suzuki's legacy may be best remembered for the Shenmue series."